Sunday, October 26, 2008

I was familiar with the strange phenomenon of the ever present Israelis manning their posts at kiosks at American malls. Thing is, this was Obama city area (read: Chicago), so it did not strike me as too strange.

But now I have moved to a more redneck area (sorry, no specifics) - the tri state area if you will.

And lo and behold, here are the familiar kiosks in all their glory in a god forsaken mall in the middle of redneckia.

I was flabbergasted and I just stood there, my mouth open.

Amazed.

The saleslady (actually more like an Israeli high school or college student) quickly approached me: "Are you familiar with the Dead Sea?"

"Well, yes", I stammered, and then thought that although I WAS familiar with that landmark, every redneck in town probably stammered a "Yes" also so as not to appear stupid. "Where are you from?"

"Israel", then quickly: "Well, we are selling beauty products here".

"Well, I am beautiful enough", I stammered.

"Come, come - let me see your hands" was the retort/command.

I knew what was coming.

A girl I knew (don't want to say dated - shudder) was accosted by one of these people at an American mall in the greater Obama city area.

The command "Let me see your hands!" was also shouted, and she meekly complied.

After a quick chat about how the cream that she used on my acquaintance's hands was superb, and was making her hands oh so smooth, I was amazed that the girl I was with was talked into buying this stuff.

About $50 later, as we walk away, she confided in me that she has issues saying "No!" to people.

Well, I thought, then you need some serious psychological help, doll, and I am now getting the fuck away from you you crazy bitch.

I forgot about this incident - but then, just today, it came back to me full force.

After the saleslady uttered the "I am from Israel", I wanted to lay into her, ask her what kibbutz, if she lived on the occupied territories, and if she drives a caterpillar tractor... over American college girls.

But thought better of it.

This is America.

It's dangerous to draw attention to oneself.

I did a quick google research and here are some articles that shed some light on this nationwide phenomenon. (Yes, this is happening all across the USA).

"Keren," an Israeli in her mid-20s, worked last year at what has become a seasonal high-paying job for thousands of young Israelis: selling body lotions, face creams and other such products at shopping mall kiosks throughout the United States in the months leading up to Christmas. According to Keren, who spoke with The Journal on the condition that her real name not be used, most of these Israelis are here on a tourist visa which, according to the law, does not permit them to work in the United States.

Did you catch that?

These Israeli college students are here on a tourist visa, which forbids them to be working a job here in America.

So what they are doing is illegal.

Moving on:

Keren says that she paid her own way, about $1,000 for a round-trip ticket. When she arrived in New York, "there was an interrogation of 45 minutes. U.S. Customs officials already know that lots of Israelis come to work during the months before Christmas. They know we're not normal tourists, so they treat us differently. It's not easy to get in."

But she did get in, then flew to a Southeastern city, where someone from the company picked her up at the airport.

"He took me right to the apartment," Keren says. "There were four of us, all young Israeli women, living in a two-bedroom apartment and each girl paid $500 per month rent to the people that hired us. I arrived, they introduced me to everybody. You get to know everyone at the mall, and it turns out to be a little Israeli community; everybody knows everybody, becoming good friends with them.

Each apartment gets a car. So even though you go on your own, soon you're part of a community and somebody's protecting you all the time. They make sure you have food, you have gas, you have everything you need."

Usually, the companies that employ Israelis sell "either those small pillows that you can heat in the microwave and they're like a massage when you put them on your neck. Or they sell Dead Sea products, the mud, stuff like that.

"The people you work for, they teach you what to do, how to sell the products. You have a set pitch. You memorize it word by word. Even if you know nothing at all about the product, if you do the pitch word by word, people will buy it. The products you sell, you can buy them in Israel for $10. Here in the U.S. people pay $60, $70."

When Keren says this, there's an undertone of condescension toward the naive American shopper, who's willing to fork over big bucks to buy mud and salt from the Dead Sea.

Lets repeat the key points for emphasis.

These kids come here on a student visa and illegally work in American malls.

They are assigned a helper who helps them with getting a car, gas money and other small things that they do not know how to do (or cannot do due to them being here illegally).

There are grouped in small groups, and each group has a contact who helps out with getting a car, gas money, or any other help that is needed.

As Karen says: "Each apartment gets a car. So even though you go on your own, soon you're part of a community and somebody's protecting you all the time. They make sure you have food, you have gas, you have everything you need."

This reminds me a lot of how terrorist cells operate.

Now, before I get called a lot of names and reported to the Anti Defamation League (as if I wasn't already), I am not calling these kids terrorists.

It's simply the methods that they employ remind me of a terrorist cell.

OK?

Each cell (apartment) is assigned a commander (a helper) who presumably is here legally (presumably being the key word) and is familiar with the country to be useful to the group - to get plane tickets, procure a car, rent an apartment, etc.

This was the same way that the 9/11 terrorist cells operated - they shared an apartment (a terrorist cell, or an action unit) and each unit had a helper (a commander) familiar with the country who helped out however he could.

Just interesting method of operation, almost militarized (or al-Kaida'ized, if you think of it - but this method of urban cell has been used since the early 1900's).

And of course, they are selling crap. Literally.

They are selling mud and salt. Stuff that in Israel costs you $10 (if that). Here in the States the dirt they are peddling - the cost is much higher, $70 or more.

So these Israelis are exposed to American stupidity and venality (and what better example than that girl I was with).

Keren says she made good money. "Sometimes as much as $800 in a day. My friend worked three months, then went back to Israel and paid for four years of college, a car and an apartment. The kind of money you could never make in Israel."

But there's tension all the time. "When you're working at a kiosk, every person who sits nearby for more than a few minutes, you suspect they might be immigration. So you walk away without attracting attention. Any time you see a police car in the loading area, you get nervous. You think there's going to be a raid. Sometimes you get advance warning. Every one of these kiosks has one or two legal employees. They're the ones that remain when they think a raid is about to take place. Every time we were driving and someone was following our car for more than three blocks, we'd get scared.

Well, this is a lovely way to operate a business, isn't it?

For Keren, the reason that Israelis work at the malls is simple: the money. "When you work at a kiosk during the months before Christmas, you make more than your parents in Israel.(...)Any other reason why Israelis do this? "I guess Israelis tend to live more on the edge," Keren says. "They never think they'll lose much if they get caught; they always feel there's a way around the system. If you get caught, what's the worst that can happen? A couple of weeks in jail, then you get sent back to Israel. If they take your passport, you go back to Israel and get a new one.

Then you come back to the U.S. with a new passport.

"I mean, it's not like they're going to keep you in a U.S. prison for the rest of your life. A couple of weeks, at most. So the next Christmas the same Israelis are back here, working the kiosks at the mall. No worries, no nothing. It's not that intimidating to them."

Great, so these kids are learning that the American system of law enforcement is easy to beat.

A few thoughts.

One, these kids want an experience of making extra money (indeed, good money), as the article narrates:

Keren says she made good money. "Sometimes as much as $800 in a day. My friend worked three months, then went back to Israel and paid for four years of college, a car and an apartment. The kind of money you could never make in Israel."

All this for selling mud, crap, and other assorted shit to gullible, stupid Americans.

It's an adventure for these kids, as well as a way to make money.

Think of it as the American college students taking a backpack and travelling through Europe, but with an opportunity to make money in the process.

As the Israeli girl profiled has said, everything would be great IF this was legal.

But it is not - and those kids here on student visas, they are not supposed to be doing this.

Personal experience - the sellers are INCREDIBLY pushy, to the point of being rude.

If you do not flee right away, they will grab you by the hand, and smear your hand with some goo - whether you are a man like myself, who sneers at beauty products and works on his tough guy scowl - makes no difference.

You WILL be pressured, sometimes even the other sellers will gang up on you and pressure you to buy their "quality" products, because of course "you deserve the best" and "you need this".

And most Americans WILL buy some shit cream or other, just to be able to flee the situation - remember, the pushy seller IS holding your hand all this time.

Pussies.

If you want to buy this (I don't know, maybe mud and salt is good for your skin, I am not a beautician), cool, buy it.

But if you feel pressured, get up, ask for a towel to wipe yourself, and if not available, politely thank them for their time and walk away.

Don't feel pressured.

If you can't handle these pushy fuckers, what will you do at a car dealership - get pressured into buying a $50,000 car?

Another thought, of the conspiracy theory variety.

This strikes me as a perfect pre-school for possible spies.

Think about it.

You are dumped into a strange (for you) country, with strange people who speak a different language, have different customs, mannerisms, etc.

Your job is to accost them and bend them to your will.

Can you think of a better way to spot a prospective spy in a group of people?

After all a spy is not a James Bond moron who goes around the world shooting people and blowing stuff up (thanks, Hollywood, for that idiotic stereotype).

A spy's job is to TALK to people, to ingratiate himself/herself into a target country, region, group of people, and get them to talk, and then to control the conversation to get what you want from them.

Keren from the article:

"The people you work for, they teach you what to do, how to sell the products. You have a set pitch. You memorize it word by word. Even if you know nothing at all about the product, if you do the pitch word by word, people will buy it.

Is there better spy (or come to think of it, even business school) training than that?

What's with the pussy ass "anonymous" shit? If you're afraid to write something without having your identity known you should go stuff toilet paper in the wailing wall.

Anyway, another good post AG. My advice, never give a stranger your hand!!!

Now about the spying, thanks for reminding me what it is that I have been trying to remember all day. It had been right on the tip of my tongue, but I simply could not recall what in particular it was that I determined to brush up on when I got the chance today. I suggest that if a person can't walk up to a perfect stranger (or anyone else for that matter), and hold the topic of conversation, keeping it on your turf and determining its tone and content, that you might want to refuse to speak to strangers at all.

I often choose the later option, or am so aggressively terse from the beginning that they shut up and leave me alone. This saves plenty of time. Just try saying "if I want to talk I'll speak, until then you might as well go away", or something even less socially acceptable depending on the person.

This does not always work though. That is why I had decided to brush up on Hegel, and some later and lesser known manipulators that media personalities, politicians, and others study and use so commonly. Don't assume they are smarter than you and that you can't beat them at the game. You have to know the name of the game and the rules, then anyone can make themselves less vulnerable to being sold a line of shit, fed ideas they think are their own, etc.

Well, off to the kitchen now. No, I will not be eating Jewish Rye (or any other kind of rye tonight).

himost of them come on working visa like H2B,work and travel J1 visa or they are american citizen (and israeli too). in 2008 more then 3500 young israeli got working visa. Some are working illegal but that was in 2006. Today 95% are llegal!

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — A Maryland mall says Salvation Army bell ringers are making too much noise, and that's striking a sour note with merchants.

The mall is asking the charity to replace the insides of bells with paper clips to keep the clanging down.

Maj. Robert Lyle says the three indoor ringers at Valley Mall have replaced the clappers inside their bells. Lyle says he sympathizes with merchants who get tired of the noise. But he says the two bell-ringers located outside the mall are still at full volume.

Salvation Army volunteers ring the bells to call attention to their red kettles. Shoppers drop donations for the poor into the buckets.

Mall Marketing Director Brian Kaltenbaugh says the noise complaints came from kiosk- and cart-based businesses in hallways near the bell ringers.

Today I went to the mall after a long, long absence. The Israeli girl rushed to me and smeared some goo on my hand. I am ABSOLUTELY allergic to the Dead Sea cosmetic products! I am not sure if it was the prompt removal or the quality of the sh*t they are pushing, but I ended up with just a burning sensation on my skin. I was absolutely sure they all were the MOSSAD operatives. Their legend just don't hold water. $10, 000 per month in rental fees, three "operatives" working 12-hour shift, earning between $500 and $800 daily? How many jars of goo they have to sell daily? Let's see: $1500 "commission" means that the sales even at 20% commission must be $7 500 daily! (the WSJ in today's piece says the commissions are 30% to 40%.) At $50 a jar they have to sell 150 jars a day. Or 10 jars per hour. No, they are Mossad. Something is cooking! The same something that happened on 9/11.

I have seen these Israeli / Mossad operatives in Malls in the South. The thing that struck me what that these "friends of America" were present in the malls of Canada - no kidding. I found them in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. Back in USA, I have asked these Israelis / Mossad operatives, all of them identified them as Israeli showing that they know they are well protected even if they identify themselves as Israelis. Also they also say they are not US Citizens or Permanent Residents but I am not sure how can they sale products in commercial centers. Is anyone from US government one monitoring these spies? What are they up to? Are they planning a "Islamic terrorist" attack?

are you fucking kidding me?? these KIDS are 21 years old, just got out of 3 years of boring mandatory army duty and want to make money so they can go travel in south america! that's it! they don't have brains! they just want to sell you shit so they can make money..yes they are ridiculously annoying...some malls even ban them from approaching people, but it is hard for them to make money in israel so they come here without a lot of info on where they will live and what malls etc, because everything is set up for them. the guys that own the businesses import this shit so cheap...not even close to $10 thats for sure. cheapest possible stuff in order to mark up the highest they can. they PREY on dumb americans they just love to play with you...they see a rich looking woman, the price increases. they throw deals all around and fuck with you and they are rude because all they are thinking about is LAYING ON THE BEACH IN BRAZIL for the next 6 months!!! beleive me it is true for each and every one of them. they learn the speech and repeat it thousands of times for 3 months straight and make a killing. they are good normal kids, they just get a little brainwashed by the enormous potential. they are selling a lot because there are a lot of dumb americans who dont know how to say no and can be taken advantage of by kids with no brains and a memorized speech. its sad. but you guys are sad for thinking that they are fucking mossad...RELAX. and whoever asked if they are planning an islamic terrorist attaack?!?!?!?! ARE U ON CRACK!?! good luck with that, I just have no words for you, period.

It's obvious to anyone who can think and reason they are here to provide a cover for others amongst them.

Yes, most of them are not terrorists,

* most of the IDF military recently out of service at Chabad and Warm houses (2,600+) all over the world in many conflict zones, are also not terrorists. Although clearly Mossad operates in their midst.

* most of the world jewish population are not terrorists, but many are conditioned or arm-twisted into providing support for an illegitimate regime in Palestine. The Americans I have heard from who have actually visited Palestine are disturbed, and some outspoken, at how racist and apartheid and cruel the IDF and other Israeli agencies are towards the native people.

You must fight them at their base of support: Get the most brainwashed people out from supporting criminals, any decent people you know who claim to be 'Jew'.

Stop using their phoney paper money. By handling it you automatically demoralize yourself.

They're annoying, they're pushy - that's basically all there is to it - they are willing to work in the malls because they heard you can make good money - nothing malicious about that. If we just say no that's ridiculous to pay that much for mud - especially considering most products dont contain anything from the actual Dead Sea anyway then they would stop selling it cause it wouldnt be worth it. Israelis are opportunists - which may be annoying but its not malicious.

So I was at a Bay Area mall today and was walking to the Mens Warehouse to check out their buy 1 get 1 free suit offer. On the way, I got accosted by one of these Israeli girls, and once I seen all those cosmetics, I knew what was coming. Shit. Oh by the way, I'm a guy. Anyway, she asks me about the Dead Sea, and I'm like OK. Relunctantly, I gave my hand when she asked for it, does her thing, acting nice all the while, asking my name, how old I was, where I'm from, damn, damn, damn. And then tells me this product is on sale for 30 bucks instead of 50. Instead of getting my consent to buy the freakin thing, she tried ringing me up and I'm like wait a minute. I don't want your cream. Then she starts getting pushy with me, then makes a rude comment saying, "don't you have 30 bucks?" I'm keeping my composure and simply stated I got a lot of bills to pay and have to buy textbooks for the new college semester, thanked her and walked away.2 minutes later, I do end up at my real destination, Mens Warehouse, where a very polite gentlemen helped me with the suit promo. He was not pushy, and always stated there's no rush, it's all up to you, and offered to hold a couple of suits for me. Thats the way business should be done in America.

Hi, I'm a Kiosk owner. So I'd like to set the record straight. (Whether you believe me or not). Firstly kiosks are ALWAYS owned by an American. The business itself isn't illegal and we pay taxes like everyone else. The Israeli employees come on H2B though I'm sure that their are illegals, most of us owners wouldn't risk our future (and apparently we do very well) when we can get an H2B for just 200-300 dollars.Now for some real answers.

You compare these "communities" to terorist cells. There are two reasons why everything is set up for these people. 1) Israelis are a very close community. They feel very alone in the US and even the world. The owners try and make life for them here as comfortable as possible. Most of these workers are kids and miss their friends and family. So we try our hardest to make them feel like they're not just here for work but here as part of a greater experience.Whether or not you feel this is like terrorist cells doesn't matter if there is no terrorist plotting... After all you can say that Church groups and the YMCA act in the same way. It's called being there for people. Besides, we're not going to bring them 1000miles and let them just figure stuff out for themselves.2) The second reason why they get so many perks is very AMERICAN. Supply and demand. There's a lot of compitition and many companies they can go to. Sometimes it comes down to who can offer a better living experience.

These Israelis actually don't think that most Americans are dumb as you say. They think that they have so much money that they don't know what to do with it. This is no ones fault but our own cultures. We live on credit and we have to much disposable income. (i.e. our current financial meltdown)

These workers are rude, they are ruthless, they are good at what they do but they shouldn't carry a stigma any worst than your average used cars salesman... certainly not that of a mossad agent!

I don't know any mossad agents but i'm pretty sure you can't become one when you're 20yrs old! They did do a mandatory 3 yr army term but most of them never even saw action. Most of my employees had desk jobs or were technicians. One was a cook! The army is helpful in allowing them to be dissiplines enough to focus on nothing but sales for 12hrs a day, sometimes 6 days a week. And that's why Americans can't do the job. Cus trust me it costs us a lot of money to house and find these Israelis. I tried using Americans and most of the time it doesn't work because of a lack of focus. They've got family, friends, school, boyfriend problems... you name it. An Israeli want nothing more than to run away to South America for 6months to a year and knows exactly how much money he needs to do that.

In short, Israelis are nothing to fear. They love this country. They love that you don't have to fight for everything and that people (even strangers) are generally nice to them. So even though when at the kiosk they take advantage of that niceness. They leave here loving that niceness and spreading the truth about us Americans; That we are kind and friendly (and gullible with crappy mud :)

To the guy who wrote about "Islamic terrorist plots" Wow. That's a shame. You might unknowingly be agreeing with many of these Israelis. LOL! Who are JEWISH and also fear such attacks!

Well, I hope I calmed some of you people down. Next time you see a pushy guy or girl at a kiosk. Take the time to talk to them about what they hope to achieve in their future and you'll see that their answers are genuine. These are kids with big dreams and no money... But they're trying.

I was accosted at the mall by a couple of jerk offs selling that heating pad p.o.s. At first I let them do their little sales pitch until the second guy made an off color remark about my appearance. I called him on it and he's like "Oh, I was just kidding." He wasn't. It's clear to me that these people think we're a bunch of CHUMPS. That pissed me off more than having to avoid certain parts of the mall to get away from them.

i have an answer for why these israeli women are there, and why they are so pushy. they are spies. no bullshit. at the macarthur mall in virginia, the women selling dead sea salts there were found to be israeli spies. they would question men about what rank they are, what ship they came from, ect. i found this out from a reliable source in the military. ever find it odd that they are found in america but not in places like the UAE? ever find it odd that they made such a point of targeting men? well thats the real reason, not because it was to get your girlfriends attention. they were targeting men because most military personel are typicaly males. the one that worked at macarthur mall was considered to be very pretty. one of my friends was asked for his rank when he was talking to her. she was extremely pushy if you tried to ignore her when walking by. i would just pretend to be on my cell phone, but she would still hassle me. it is also why many of them were working on tourist visas. working with a tourist visa is illegal. if you dont believe me, then read this article about it and see for yourself. the article is through this link:

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4821.shtml

after you read this article, you will probably find them even more annoying than you did before. that is if you even can still find them at malls now that many of them have been discovered for their true motives.

I once had an armed undercover retail security gig at a shop in the mall. Right in front of the store was one of those Israeli spy kiosks peddling their junk; I got to watch them all day long. I probably made them nervous too. They operate in cells with a handler exactly like you described. Watch them closely next time, they practice hypnotism with the aggressive cream message and suggestive comments. Your date was probably in a trance.